Display hanger for packaged merchandise



A ril 12, 1966 M. FELKAY DISPLAY HANGER FOR PACKAGED MERCHANDISE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 8, 1964 mvnvrom Miklos Felkoy ATTORNEY.

April 12, 1966 M. FELKAY 3,245,547

DISPLAY HANGER FOR PACKAGED MERCHANDISE Filed June 8, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Miklos Felkoy bysi W ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,245,547 DISPLAY HANGER FOR PACKAGED MERCHANDISE Miklos Felkay, South Orange, N.J., assignor to Tip Top Brush Co., Inc., Jersey City, NJ. Filed June 8, 1964, Ser. No. 373,269 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-59) This invention relates to display means for packaged merchandise and in particular to a definite form thereof that will receive the product of a given manufacturer and will not receive competitive products of other manufacturers.

It has become a practice of many manufacturers to supply retail dealers with merchandise display racks or boards, including the perforated or hole-punched type commonly known as peg boards. These display boards are provided with brackets or hangers having arms adapted to engage openings in the handles of the merchandise, for example, paint brushes. This enables careless or unethical dealers to mount on a board supplied by and identified with a given manufacturer, competing products of other manufacturers, to the sales disadvantage of the manufacturer supplying the display board and the deception of the public.

It is a principal object of the invention, therefore, to provide a particular form, shape or design of display board bracket or hanger which is adapted to receive only those merchandise packages which are sold by the supplier of the display board and to reject the products of competing manufacturers.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a merchandise package which has an aperture keyed to receive said particular form of hanger.

More specifically, the invention provides a display board bracket or hanger which is shaped in the manner of a key, and a merchandise package which has an aperture therein shaped to form a complementary key hole adapted to receive said bracket or hanger.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hanger of the character described that can be readily attached to or removed from a perforated display board, which will effectively support and display merchandise, and also provide price tag carrying means that lends itself to ready price change.

Further objects include the provision of package means adapted to support merchandise on hangers of the character described, said package means being provided with a hanger opening of such shape as to be capable of receiving different forms of said hanger, said package means being provided with flap closure means for closing the package while it is hanging on display.

It will be understood that the present device may be made of various materials and in various forms and shapes. For example, one of the preferred materials is metal, especially wire bent and formed to provide the essential elements of the invention namely, means for attaching the hanger to a suitable support such as a perforated wall board, and key-shaped package receiving and supporting means. More particularly, a wire bracket may be utilized in connection with the present invention, said wire bracket having a double wire package receiving and supporting portion. The double wire portion of said bracket may be formed with one wire above the other in a generally vertical common plane or one wire in side-byside relationship to the other wire and occupying a generally horizontal common plane. A package adapted to be supported on the first form of this bracket would have a generally vertically extending slot to receive the two wires. A package adapted to be mounted on the second form of this device would have a generally horizontal extending slot to receive the two wires. Another possi- 3,245,547 Patented Apr. 12, 1966 bility would be to provide a slot in cruiciform shape to receive either the vertically extending wires or the horizontally extending wires comprising the two forms of the bracket last above described.

It will be understood that brackets made in accordance with the present invention may be stamped out of sheet metal. The package supporting arm would be relatively wide in one dimension and relatively thin in another dimension. For example, it may be relatively wide in vertical dimension and thin horizontally or relatively wide in horizontal dimension and thin vertically. In the first case the bracket would be adapted to receive a packagehaving a vertically extending slot; in the second case it would receive a package having a horizontally extending slot.

The brackets which the present invention describes and claims may also be made of other materials such as molded plastics. These brackets would be molded to provide a package supporting arm having a greater vertical dimension than horizontal or a greater horizontal dimension than vertical. Again thiswould determine whether the package is to have a vertically extending or horizontally extending slot to receive the arm.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises certain constructions hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the claim and a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of a display hanger and a portion of a merchandise package supported thereby, the latter being shown partly in section.

FIGURE 2 is a face or front view of said merchandise package shown supported by said hanger.

FIGURE 3 is a view of a modified form of the hanger shown supporting the same merchandise package.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary face view of the flap portion of said merchandise package, showing said package supported by the hanger of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of FIG- URE 1 showing the construction and lateral spacing of the parts of the first form of hanger.

FIGURE 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG- URE 3 showing the construction and vertical spacing of the parts of the second form of hanger.

FIGURE 7 is a view in side elevation of a third form of display hanger, this form corresponding essentially to that shown in FIGURE 1 but having no auxiliary arm supporting a price tag.

FIGURE 8 is a view in side elevation of a display hanger made in accordance with a fourth form of this invention, this form being made largely of stamped and formed sheet metal.

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of the bracket shown in FIGURE 8, taken on the line 9-9 of FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of a fifth form of this invention, taken on the line 10-10 of FIGURE 11, this form being made in whole or in part of molded plastics.

' FIGURE 11 is a view in side elevation of the plastic display hanger shown in FIGURE 10.

Referring to the drawing in detail 10 indicates a packaged article of merchandise comprising a commodity such as a paint brush and its container which it is desired to exhibit on a display board. The brush container or receptacle 11 is in the nature of a box having a front sight opening 12 through which the brush 13 may be seen. The box, at its lower end, has an opening formed therein to allow only the handle 14 of the brush to protrude and, at its upper end, has connected closure flaps 15 and 16 score folded to be readily opened when the merchandise is to be hung up for display. An auxiliary flap 11A is provided which serves as a top closure member for the box, keeping it closed even when hung for display to maintain its contents in clean and dust free condition.

The closure flap 15 constitutes the foldable top of the box and is cut out to provide a cruciform opening 17 having outwardly converging, inwardly diverging edges 18 to render the receptacle self-centering on its supporting means, to be now referred to.

The display bracket or hanger support means indicated generally by the numeral 20 is adapted to be mounted on the face of a peg board not shown, but which, as is well known, has spaced openings in which various brackets or hangers may .be mounted. Bracket 20 is usually made of wire and is shaped to provide a generally horizontal component 21 which is preferably made from one piece of material to present a vertical rear component 22, a forwardly extending arm 23 and a rearwardly extending return arm 24 which are joined at their front ends by an integral obliquely disposed loop portion 25, which prevents the packages from sliding off the holder. Of course, when the display bracket is mounted on the display board, its horizontal component 21 will assume a slightly inclined position which will also help retain the packages in place. The rearwardly extending arm 24 has a generally vertical end portion 27 paralleling vertical component 22 above mentioned.

Both elements 22 and 27 are secured to the lower bar or cross-piece 28A of a U-shaped peg board hanger 28 whose upwardly extending rearwardly off-set arms 29 and 30 engage the back wall of a panel or peg board to support the bracket 2t) in generally horizontal position. Element 27 is forwardly extended in generally parallel relation to arms 23, 24 as at 26 to provide an upwardly spaced support means for a price tag holder 31 in which a price tag 32 may be removably mounted.

While arms 23 and 24 are shown in generally horizontal parallel relationship, it is evident that they can be rearranged to assume a generally vertical parallel relationship, as indicated at 23A and 24A in FIGURES 3 and 4, terminating in the looped end 25A which fits through the vertical components of cruciform opening 17. In this form of the invention, the rear end of lower arm 23A is bent upwardly to define a vertical component 27A which then is bent forwardly to form supporting element 26A for price tag holder 31.

It is evident that, with the particular shape of the flap opening and the shape of the end of the hanger, the latter will only accommodate the packaged merchandise in tended to be displayed on a particular board. Loop ends 25 and 25A are too large to pass through the usual nail hole opening in the brush handle. On the other hand, the merchandise package herein described and claimed may be mounted on a conventional peg board hanger or hook having ouly a single arm.

Referring now to hanger 40 as shown in FIGURE 7, it will be seen that this hanger corresponds essentially to the hanger shown in FIGURE 1 with the sole exception that it does not have an auxiliary arm corresponding to arm 26 to support a price tag. Hanger 40 comprises a merchandise supporting arm 42 corresponding to merchandise supporting arm 21, a vertical component 44 corresponding to vertical component 22, and a pair of hookshaped elements 46 corresponding to hook-shaped elements 28 and engageable with a perforated board. FIG- URE 7 is intended to show that a merchandise hanger made in accordance with the present invention need not be provided with means for supporting a price tag.

Referring now to the fourth form of this invention as illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9, it will be seen that hanger or bracket 50 is made in part of sheet metal and in part of wire. The horizontal components 52 and 54, together with the vertical component 56 which joins them, are made of a metal strip bent to the shape shown in FIGURE 8. Horizontal component 52 is relatively wide in horizontal dimension and relatively thin in vertical dimension. It is adapted to enter a horizontal slot or the horizontal component of the cross-shaped slot shown in the merchandise package depicted in FIGURE 2. The horizontal component 54 supports a bracket 58 which contains a price tag 60. Secured to the vertical component 56, as by welding, is a pair of hook-shaped elements 62 corresponding to hook shaped elements 28 and 46. These hook-shaped elements 62 are to engage a perforated board in order to support the hanger thereon.

Reference to FIGURES 10 and 11 will disclose the fact that the fifth form of the invention comprises a hanger 70 which is a single horizontal arm 72 made of plastic material, a plastic cross bar 74 secured to the back end of said arm 72, and a channel member 76 which is secured in any conventional way to a display board or any other suitable support. Channel 76 may be made of metal or plastics or any other suitable material. It will be noted that the vertical dimension of arm 72 is considerably greater than its thickness. It is therefore evident that arm 72 is designed to engage a vertical extending slot in a merchandise package or the vertical extending component of the cross-shaped slot shown in FIGURE 2.

The invention is not to be restricted to the precise details of construction shown since various changes and alterations may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention or sacrificing the advantages to be derived from its use.

What is claimed is:

Display means for supporting and displaying merchandise on a hole-punched display board or the like, comprising:

hanger-means, and

a merchandise container adapted to be pendently supported thereon,

said hanger means comprising a bracket adapted to hook into a hole-punched display board, and

a generally horizontally extending arm adapted to support said container,

said arm having different vertical and horizontal transverse dimensions,

said container being adapted to receive and hold a commodity, and

having a wall portion,

with a cruciform opening formed therein to receive said arm, and

thereby to support said container and its commodity contained therein on said hanger means,

said horizontally extending arm comprising,

a pair of spaced generally parallel wire components joined at their forward ends by means of a loop which is integral therewith,

at least one of said parallel wire components being bent upwardly at its back end to form a vertical bar, and

then bent forwardly in generally parallel relation to said horizontally extending arm to form a horizontal bar,

a price tag bracket being mounted on the forward end of said horizontal bar, and

said vertical bar being secured to said bracket to support both the horizontally extending arm and the horizontal bar thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1955 Kelling 80-10 10/1927 Scott 4019.5 4/ 1931 Harsted 248225 11/1937 Black 34-104 7/1956 Larson 21187 12/ 1962 Schayer 248223 FOREIGN PATENTS 892,834 3/1962 Great Britain. CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner..

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

